instability of marangoni convection in a rectangular cavity (IMCIRC)

Instability of Marangoni Convection in a Rectangular Cavity under 1g and µg Conditions

experiment acronym: IMCIRC

funding agency:DLR

grant number: 50WF9999

performing organization:

ZARM, Universität Bremen

prime investigator: Dr. Hendrik Kuhlmann

experiment objective

abstract

Marangoni convection in an open, side-heated container of a rectangular cross-section is investigated experimentally. The cavity’s length is much larger than the distance between the heated walls. Therefore, the flow is quasi-two-dimensional if the thermocapillary Reynolds number and the Rayleigh number are small. On an increase of the temperature difference between the side walls the flow becomes three-dimensional. We measure the onset of the three-dimensional flow and its structure. Morover, microgravity experiments have been performed using the Drop Tower facility of ZARM at the University of Bremen. In these latter experiments the dynamics of the flow upon a step change from 1g to μg was measured. The result of the experi- ments and corresponding numerical simulations show a significant change of the flow pattern within the first 1.5 seconds after the step change.